What You Don't Know Can Hurt You
by Miss Lavender Sky
Summary: At Annie's birthday party, Jeff recognizes her father as the man he'd gotten off when he was implicated in a crime ring. Now the past is come to haunt him, and Annie's in danger. How can Jeff keep her safe without letting her know too much?
1. Parties and Presents

**A/N: Okay, so this is going to be a chapter thing, so just roll with it here. It shouldn't take too long to upload new chapters. By the way, this takes place about midseason in Season 2.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the show or the characters. But believe me, if I did...**

"Are you going to Annie's birthday party?" Shirley asked Jeff on their way to class.

"What?" Jeff asked. He was used to tuning out most of what Shirley said on these little walks to class.

"Annie's birthday party!" Shirley exclaimed. "It's the one her parents are throwing her, even though I would've thrown her one if they hadn't, but I guess, as her parents, they have a right…"

Jeff had forgotten about that. He wasn't actually planning on going. Enough had gone on that he thought maybe staying away from Annie was the best thing he could do for right now. He didn't know how she felt, but being too close to her-

Yeah, it was probably just better if he didn't go.

"No, I don't think so," he told Shirley.

"What? Jeffrey, that's not very fair, you know. We're all coming to support Annie and meet her family, and if you're not there, it just wouldn't be right. Even Troy's coming, and he doesn't even celebrate birthdays," Shirley said, and Jeff winced, noting that the guilt trip was starting.

"Look, I think Annie would have a fine time without me. You guys will all be good to her, and she'll have lots of fun with you guys," Jeff said.

Shirley glared at him. "Jeffrey, you will be there."

"But Shirley, I don't think-"

"_Jeffrey._"

"Fine."

"Good," Shirley said sweetly. "I'll see you there."

* * *

Jeff sighed.

He was standing in some department store, trying to find Annie a gift. He was staring at a wall of everything imaginable, but he couldn't think of anything that would work.

He sucked at giving gifts.

He had to find a gift that she would like, that she would use, and that wouldn't be totally lame. It had to be something that no one else in the group would get her, something special. But not too special. If it was too special, it would say something. And he didn't need it to say anything.

He needed a perfect, creative, but silent gift.

He stared at the wall a little while longer, then pulled out his phone, dialing Britta's number.

"No, Jeff," she answered. "I will not pick out a gift for you to give Annie. You know how I feel about these things. People need to pick out something themselves. We all know each other well enough for that."

"I wasn't going to ask you to pick out a gift," said Jeff.

"Oh, yeah?" said Britta. "What were you going to do?"

Jeff stopped for a moment. "I was going to ask you to…pick out a gift," he said, sighing.

"Pick one out yourself," she said. "I'm sure you can think of something," she said. "You know Annie well enough for that."

Jeff nodded. "Okay, well, okay, I'll figure it out," he said.

"I'm sure you will," Britta said, and he could hear her smirking at him over the phone.

He hung up and thought for a moment.

He walked out of the department store and out to his car. He knew what to get her.


	2. The Right Choice

**A/N: Um, I'm really sorry that it's taken me this long to update. It was very lame of me. But here you go, new chapter! And there's more coming tonight or tomorrow, when the suspensefulness actually kicks in. So, please enjoy and review! :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the show or the characters. But believe me, if I did...**

Jeff was greeted at the door by Annie's mother, who looked like a slightly taller, slightly older version of Annie.

"Hello, Jeff," she said, once he'd introduced himself. "Come on in. Did you have any trouble finding the place?"

"Uh, no, I was fine," said Jeff, following her into the house. He felt it best not to mention that he'd actually been to the house several times before Annie got her own apartment, dropping her off or picking her up.

"That's good," she said. "Everyone's in the living room, so just make yourself comfortable."

Jeff walked into the living room, and saw everyone from the study group, and a few others- Pavlo, Chang, and Starburns joined the rest of them. Jeff had known that they were all coming, because Annie had walked up to him the other day, frantic. "I was trying to invite Pavlo, because, you know, he's nice and sweet and everything, and then Chang and Starburns overheard as they were walking by, and I couldn't not invite them, because they both looked so sad, so I just said I hadn't told them yet, but they were invited, and I didn't know what else to do." She had said it all in one breath.

They hung out for a while, listening to Pierce's stories of what he was planning on doing during his Winter Break, none of which any of them particularly wanted to know about, and hearing Abed and Troy's plan of touring community colleges in the state, teaching them how to make a proper blanket fort.

Then it was time for presents. Among the better presents were Abed and Troy's DVD collection, which included Kickpuncher, The Breakfast Club, and Indiana Jones ("but not the fourth one, because the fourth one blows") and Britta's book on how to save the environment through fundraising and petitions.

Jeff nervously waited for her to open the present he'd gotten her. It had sounded like a great idea when he'd thought of it, but now he wasn't sure.

"Jeff, I can't believe you remembered!" she exclaimed when she opened it.

It was a necklace that they had seen one day as they were walking through the mall together, looking for a present for Britta a couple months ago. "Look at that, Jeff!" she had said. "Isn't it gorgeous?"

"Um, I guess," he had said. He was never really much for jewelry. "But it's not very Britta, I don't think."

She had looked at it for a second longer, but had nodded and walked away.

They had gone back another time, when they were trying to find something non-birthday related for Troy's birthday a couple weeks ago, and, when he had gone to get her a drink from the food stand, he had come back to find her staring at the necklace again.

"Do you like it?" he asked, scared that a necklace was a weird gift to get a girl that wasn't your girlfriend, especially if you kind of wished she was, but didn't want anyone else to know it.

"I love it!" she said.

He had to admit, it felt pretty good to see her eyes light up like that, asking Shirley to help her put it on right there.

Britta nudged him. "See, I told you that you could find a good present all on your own." She smiled at him.


	3. Memories and Shadows

**A/N: Okay, to make up for taking forever before, I'm going to try and make it up by posting a few chapters today and tomorrow. Happy New Year!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the show or the characters. But believe me, if I did...**

Just then, Annie's dad walked in. "Hey, guys!" he called. "I brought cake!"

Everyone grinned and headed to the kitchen, Troy and Pierce fighting over who would get the bigger slice.

Jeff was the last one into the kitchen, trying to hang back and talk to Annie for a minute, but Shirley and Britta took her to the front so that she could have the first piece.

It wasn't until after everyone had gotten their cake that Jeff saw Annie's dad for the first time.

He wasn't a terribly remarkable-looking man, but something about him looked vaguely familiar. Jeff just couldn't place him. He got a bad feeling though, and, as much as he tried to shake it away, he couldn't.

Still, he tried to get through the rest of the party without thinking about whatever it was that was giving him a weird feeling about this guy.

It wasn't until a few hours later, though, that something had been able to fully put it out of his head.

Mostly everyone had left by now- Pierce had had to go attend to a "lady friend," Shirley had to get home so the babysitter could leave, Britta was taking care of one of her sick cats, Chang was at home trying to reconcile things with his wife, Starburns and Pavlo, who had surprisingly hit it off, were going to try a new bar in town, and Troy and Abed had announced that there was a Kickpuncher marathon on that they weren't going to miss- but Jeff had stayed to help Annie's mother clean up.

He hadn't noticed where Annie had gone until a few minutes later, when he passed by one of the windows and saw her sitting outside.

She looked so peaceful sitting outside, rocking back and forth on the little hammock that had been set up. He smiled to himself as he saw her playing with the necklace that he'd gotten her.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jeff saw something move. He looked and saw a shadow, moving slightly, inching away from its spot in one of the bushes outside, getting nearer and nearer to the small figure lounging on the hammock a few feet away.

Jeff tried to ignore it- it was probably a stray cat or something that had snuck into the Edison's backyard- but the figure grew and grew, until the shadow was as tall as a person.

Jeff stood still, trying not to be overcome with fear for Annie, because, of course, there was no way it was anything but his imagination out there.

But the shadow was getting closer and closer to her, and his heart was racing, and what if he was wrong? What if it wasn't his imagination, and someone really was out there?

With the shadow only a few feet away, Jeff threw open the door, startling Annie.

"Oh, Jeff!" she said, jumping up. "I didn't know you were still here."

"Uh, yeah," said Jeff slowly. "I was just, uh, helping clean up, and I was wondering where you wanted a few of the things that were left out."

"Oh, I'll come help you," said Annie, getting up and walking towards the house. "I'm sorry," she said. "I really thought everyone had left, otherwise I wouldn't have come outside."

"It's okay," said Jeff, smiling at her, though he was still dealing with his pounding heart. "It's your birthday, you deserve to relax."

"Thanks, Jeff," she said, going past him into the house.

Jeff closed the door right after she got inside, and he could've sworn he heard a twig snap right near the hammock as he did so.


	4. Pictures on the Mantle

**A/N: Okay, now I'm just in the mood to post stuff, so here you go.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the show or the characters. But believe me, if I did...**

There wasn't really anything left to clean up, but Jeff and Annie stayed up talking for another hour and a half.

It wasn't until Annie looked at the clock that they realized how late it had gotten. "Oh gosh," she said. "It's almost three, and we've got class in the morning."

Jeff groaned inwardly. He didn't want to care about getting up early for classes. He just wanted to stay here and talk to Annie. Still, he wanted to make sure she was happy, and she would be happy if she got her sleep, so he got up to leave.

"Do you want me to turn off the fire?" he asked, noticing how she was yawning and knowing that she probably wouldn't have turned off the fire, even if she did know how.

"Sure, thanks," she said drowsily.

He went over to the fireplace to turn off the gas engine, closing the screen as he did so.

When he stood up, he was face to face with the mantle, which was littered with pictures, mostly of Annie. He looked at them for a moment, smiling at little Annie, feeling like he was seeing her past in those few little photographs.

One picture, not of Annie, caught his attention.

It was a picture of Annie's father, who still gave Jeff that bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, and another man, who also looked familiar. Jeff looked at him for a minute, trying to place him, before he saw the long scar that ran right below his cheek.

Jeff gasped and almost knocked over the picture frame.

"Jeff? Is something wrong?" Annie asked from the couch. She was barely conscious, but she still looked alarmed.

"Oh, nothing," he said, trying to keep his face looking calm. "Just burned myself a little," he said.

Annie's face was clouded with concern. "Are you okay? You should really run it under some cold water, or- or-"

"I'm fine, Annie," he said, smiling, but still tense.

She yawned again.

"Now, let's get you to bed," he said, giving her a hand to help her up.

"I'm fine," she said, waving his hand away. "I'm just going to sleep on the couch," she said, yawning again.

"You sure?" Jeff asked.

She nodded.

Jeff turned to go get a blanket from the hall closet (He knew they were there from past late-nights when he had come over to talk while her parents were out of town; Annie got very cold.), and when he turned back around, she was already asleep.

He placed the blanket on her, and snuck another look at the picture on the mantle, already knowing that he wouldn't be getting much sleep at all tonight.


End file.
